BLM sets auction of parcels for development in Douglas

Growth in Douglas County continues in the north when the Bureau of Land Management auctions more than 200 acres of public land at 10 a.m.

on Oct.

27 at the Douglas County Administration Building in Minden.

The BLM sale area identifies two parcels, of roughly 100 and 106 acres, located near the existing commercial concentration of big-box stores just over the county line from Carson City.

Of the 206 acres total, 146 acres are zoned for development with another 57 acres reserved for open space, says Dan Holler, Douglas County manager.

The 100-acre parcel on the east leg of Sunridge Drive is zoned for 8.4 acres of neighborhood commercial, 1.3 acres of general commercial and 6.7 acres of office commercial.

The 106-acre parcel bordered by Topsy Lane and North Sunridge Drive is zoned residential.

The Bureau of Land Management set minimum bids of $6.4 million and $10 million on the two properties.A $10,000 check is required to register, and a 20 percent down payment is required by 3 p.m.

the day of the purchase.

The remainder is due within 180 days of purchase.

Sealed bids will be accepted until Oct.

20 in advance of the oral auction; those bids will determine the start price of bidding, says Fred Slagle of the Bureau.

Once in private hands, the properties are subject to Douglas County zoning.

Public lands are sold when they become adjacent to developing areas, making them less desirable for wildlife, says Rex Wells, on the National Land Exchange Team at the federal office of the Bureau of Land Management.

Monies from the sale go into a general fund used to acquire environmentally sensitive lands elsewhere in Nevada.

When the BLM disposed of 144 acres in 2003, purchased by Carson City auto dealers Michael Hohl and Dink Cryer, Douglas County officials wanted the BLM to acquire private properties on the Sierra slopes, says Holler.

However, says Wells, federal law says that the lands purchased with the sale proceeds must contain outstanding environmental resources and be either an in-holding or adjacent to a designated wilderness or conservation area.